


Finding the answer

by PinkBlossom



Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24114667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkBlossom/pseuds/PinkBlossom
Summary: Reader seeks Gibbs help when someone tries to blackmail her
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	1. Hello again

**Author's Note:**

> First attempt. All feedback welcome.

You waited in the room as instructed, shifting uncomfortably in the corporate seating. You didn’t know if Gibbs was going to be able to help but he was the only person your Dad had trusted so he had become the only person you could trust too.  
You’d met Gibbs just the once and that had been at your father’s funeral 6 months ago. He had introduced himself to you and had chatted about your dad with kind words. Before he’d left he’d handed you his card and told you to call if you’d needed to. You were holding that card now as waited for him.

‘Hey (y/n),’ a familiar voice said.

You stood up and embraced him.

‘Hi Gibbs. Thank you for seeing me, I know you’re busy,’ 

Gibbs looked down at the card in your hands. ‘I meant what I said when I gave you that card. Anytime. Did you want to talk somewhere quiet?’  
You nodded and followed him as he headed through the office to a room with a large table in. He gestured for you to take a seat and he sat next to you.

‘So what’s up?’ he asked.

You showed him the letters you’d received. The ones demanding money to not expose secrets about your dad. You’d dismissed the first one as a prank but then the second one had arrived and you’d taken them a little more seriously. You’d handled the letters as little as possible and kept them in a sandwich bag.

‘You been to the cops with these?’ Gibbs said, studying the letters.

‘Yep, they said it was probably a krank and given my dad is dead they didn’t think there was much they could do.’

‘Is there anything else you’ve noticed?’

‘A car parked outside my work sometimes. It’s not an employee car, I checked. Police said it was probably a coincidence.

‘Yeah I don’t like coincidences. Did you get a licence plate?’

‘That’s the thing Gibbs, it was a different plate everytime but I’m sure it was the same car.’ You say, handing Gibbs a list of the plates.

‘Anything at home?’ 

You shook your head. Gibbs looked at you for a little while. 

‘You still living alone?’ 

‘Yeah. Still in dad’s old house. Not ready to say goodbye to it just yet.’ You say, spinning the card between your fingers.

‘Ok if I hold on to these letters? I’ll get our forensic scientist to see if she can find anything on them.’

‘Sure. So you don’t think I’m overreacting.’

‘Not sure you can overreact to being blackmailed. So no one has contacted you about collecting the money?’

‘No. That was another reason the cops gave for thinking it was a krank. Said there was no evidence they intended to collect the money. Still gives me the creeps through.’

‘You feel safe at home? Can you stay with anyone?’

‘I’m fine,’ you reply, brushing away any concern.

Gibbs stands up and you follow suit.

‘I’ll let you know what I find out. If anything else happens, no matter how small. I want you to call me.’

‘Thanks Gibbs. You know, when dad knew his time was nearly up he would reminisce about his days in the core. You were the only person he seemed to trust. Thank you for listening to me.’

‘He was a good man (y/n). And I trusted him too. 

With that Gibbs escorts you to the door and you embrace before leaving  
**************************************************  
Gibbs takes the letters straight to Abby’s lab.

‘Hey Gibbs, what ya got’ Abby asks as she roller blades over to Gibbs.

‘I need you to have a look at these letters, see if you can get anything from them.’

‘Oooh creepy!’ Abby states as she reads the letters before putting on a pair of gloves and getting to work.

**************************************************  
Despite having not seen the suspect car when you got to work, you were dismayed to see it there when you left at night with yet again a different licence plate. You text Gibbs to let him know the car was there and the latest licence plate it was riding with. He replied saying he’s take a look and to get yourself home.

Back at home you started to make yourself a salad and sat eating it watching an old cowboy movie. You were enjoying a glass of wine when there was a knock at the door. You cautiously get up to answer it. Looking through the spyhole you can’t see anything. Figuring it’s just kids, you get back to your sofa. After ten minutes there is another knock. Again you get up and still there is no one at the door. When it happens again you run to the door and fling it open. The car you keep seeing at work accelerates past. When you look down you see a package addressed to you. Your heart is bounding in your chest. You leave the parcel insitu and phone Gibbs.


	2. It's All About You

When Gibbs arrived he wasn’t alone. He had bought a team. You admit you are feel a bit of a fraud.

‘Hell, (y/n) someone is at the very least trying to blackmail you and ya think that’s not serious? I’m guessing you still want to stay here tonight?’ Gibbs asks.

‘Well, yeah.’ You reply. You’d be damned if anyone was going to scare you from your home.

‘In that case I’m leaving Ziva and Tony here as protection…’

‘Oh no, I couldn’t expect them to do that…’ you reply.

‘You might not expect them to but I do,’ he quipped.

You were about to protest but realised you weren’t likely to win. Gibbs goes off to check something. Ziva is taking photos nearby. She walks up to you.

‘I would just do as he says. He is usually right.’

You look across at her and share a smile. 

‘I’m just not used to needing all this help.’ You confess.

‘I hear you. But sometimes we need it.’ Ziva replies before walking away to take more photos.

After an hour of searching and checking and taling pictures. Gibbs announces that they’re ready to leave.

‘We’ll take a look at this package back at the lab,’ Gibbs says while looking at your worried face. ‘(y/n), we will find out who is doing this.’

You sigh. ‘I don’t doubt it Gibbs. I was just hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be this serious.’

Gibbs put his arm around you and leans in close. ‘You’ll be safe tonight, Ziva and Tony will make sure of it.’

You try to smile as Gibbs removes his arm and leaves with McGee. Tony walks back in an takes up position near the window.

It was all becoming very surreal.  
********************************  
Back at NCIS, McGee presents Abby with the package.

‘Ooh I love presents Tim.’

‘Well I’m not sure this is the kinda present I would want to be getting,’ Gibbs announces as he walks in to the lab and hands a CafPow to Abby.

‘Is this for the same person as those creepy letters?’ Abby asks, lip already curling in digust.

‘Sure is Abs. Need to to get whatever you can of this. I don’t like where this one is going.’ Gibbs muses. 

‘Boss I’ll go and check the CCTV around (y/n)’s house,’ McGee says while leaving the lab.

‘Leave this to me Gibbs, I’ll have this present undone in no time.’

Gibbs pecks Abby on the cheek before leaving.

***************************************  
It was odd knowing there were other people in your house while you tried to sleep. You’d stayed up with Ziva and Tony last night. You’d talked to them about the notes and the car, that up until that night, had been hanging around at your work. Both were confident that they’d get to bottom of it. You’d slept reasonably well, walking down the stairs just as Gibbs arrived with coffee and pastries. 

‘Get this then we’ll go to NCIS. Abby has some leads we need to follow up. (y/n), we need a statement from you, so we’ll need you to come too. Probably best you don’t go to work until this is sorted.’

Back at NCIS , Gibbs sat with you in the same room you’d shown him the letters in. He wanted to know about previous relationships, any clients that had seemed over-friendly at work and anything you could remember about your dad’s friends or enemies. You racked your brain to think back to anything anyone ever said to you. It has been 6 months since your dad died but his loss still felt as raw as ever. As you were trying to talk to Gibbs, those piercing blues eyes shot through the last of your resolve and you felt warm tears on your cheeks and your bottom lips starting to tremble. Gibbs saw this playing out and grabbed a box of hankies and put a firm hand on your shoulder, sitting right next to you so you could feel the warmth of his skin, even in the air-conditioned room.

‘I’m sorry Gibbs, I just miss him so much and I just don’t know what to do with all this,’ you sobbed, drying your eyes with a hanky and trying to get a lid on your emotions.

‘It’s ok,’ he practically whispered. And you called me. That was the right thing to do.

‘I can see why dad trusted you,’ you reply, your voice still shaky.

‘Must be hard being alone right now. Your mom died quite sometime ago didn’t she?

‘Yeah, I was still at high school. It makes losing dad even harder. I don’t have any brothers and sisters to share with either.’

‘It won’t always feel like this y’know? Won’t feel as raw. 6 months is no time.’

You attempt a smile and slowly nod to acknowledge this. You knew Gibbs wasn’t spouting platitudes, your dad had told you just how acquainted with grief he was.

‘So do you think this is all to do with dad’s job?’ you asked.

Gibbs shook his head purposefully. ‘Nope, I think this is to do with you.’

You were quite taken aback by this. You were a physiotherapist at a clinic in DC. You couldn’t even imagine who would want to do this to you.


	3. Up in smoke

Gibbs left you with Abby who needed fingerprint and DNA samples to eliminate you from potential evidence she’s found on the letters and package. You’re still feeling fragile, but Abby was super sensitive.

‘Don’t worry (y/n), Gibbs will work this out. He always does,’ Abby says cheerfully as she swabs the inside of your cheek.

‘Poor guy is probably wishing he’d never given me his card.’ You joke as Abby puts the swab back in to the vial.

‘Oh no, Gibbs never says anything he doesn’t meant. If he gave you that card he would totally want you to call him. Those notes were super creepy, right?’

‘Yeah. I don’t even know what was in the package yet.

‘Evidence, (y/n). That what was inside the package!’ Abby beams.

Abby told you the package contained another note. Seemed a bit of a grand gesture for delivering another note but they obviously wanted to make sure you were listening.

**********************************

Abby walks back into her lab and starts to process the samples she took from (y/n). In another part of the lab, another machine beeps to alert her to a result being available.

‘What ya got Abs?’ Gibbs asks as he enters the lab.

At the moment the ink used to write the address on the package matches the ink used on the letters. It looks like it’s written with a fountain pen and I can tell you the ink used is created in small batches with only a few stockists in DC,’ Abby confirms while handing Gibbs the list of stockists. ‘I also got a partial finger-print of the sticky tape used on the package so I’m running that through the database.

‘Good stuff Abs, let me know if you get a match on the finger print.

Gibbs walks through to autopsy to find Ducky.

‘Ah Jethro, just in time, I’ve finished my profiling of our attempted blackmailer. I’d say this was definitely a man and I’d say this is someone who knows (y/n) reasonably well so maybe an ex-partner, friend or family member. Although they’re not demanding money, they definitely feel they should have some reward of some kind. The handwriting seems to indicate someone who wants to feel important.

**********************

You’d been at NCIS all day and you were bored. You’d drunk so much coffee you doubted you’d sleep tonight. Not that you were likely to sleep tonight thinking about who was leaving packages on your porch.

Gibbs walked in the room and gave a half smile.

‘Wanna go home?’ he asked.

‘That would be great,’ you reply.

‘The one catch is you have me for company tonight,’

You shrug. You’d never admit it but weirdness aside, it had been nice having Tony and Ziva to talk to last night. You knew Gibbs was a man of few words but having someone in the house would ease to loneliness.

You picked up takeaway on the way home and sat eating it at your kitchen table. Gibbs turned out be chattier than you thought he would and told you stories about your dad. After a couple of hours, you asked if any of the evidence had given them any idea who was sending the notes

‘There are a few leads that are being chased up. Our ME thinks this is someone you know quite well.’

‘Really? Wow.

I’m not sure who would do this.’

‘Any family members you haven’t seen eye to with?

‘Mom’s family haven’t really been in touch much since she died, I guess. My dad didn’t get on with one of uncles. But I don’t thing he and Mom were that close anyway.’

‘It’s worth checking out. Give me a name and I’ll get the team on to it tomorrow.’

‘Jerry Mather. Last I knew he still lived in DC.’

Gibbs took a note of the name to look up tomorrow. It was getting late. Gibbs insisted on taking the couch despite the offer of the spare room. You got him some blankets and said good night.

When you got downstairs the next morning, Gibbs was bust fixing the kitchen cupboards that had needed a bit of attention. Truth was they were broken when your dad was sick, but he didn’t have the energy and you certainly did not have the skill to fix them.

‘That’s really sweet, thank you!’ you exclaimed.

‘No problem. I woke up early so it put the time in.’

You picked up coffee on the way in to NCIS. You bought your laptop with you so you could at least do some work while you were there. Gibbs left you in the meeting room while he went to brief the team.

**********************************

Gibbs sent the team of the chase up the leads that had immerged. (y/n)’s uncle had a record so his details were easy to find. Before they could go check him out, (y/n) came running in to the office.

‘My neighbour called; my house is on fire!’

**********************************

Gibbs drove you straight to your house. It was engulfed. The Fire Department were already on the scene, but you knew the house was gone. As the rest of the NCIS team arrived you lost it. That house was the only thing you had left and now it was gone. You wept hysterically. Gibbs held you as you sobbed into his chest. He took you back to NCIS and left you with Abby who hugged you as you poured your heart out about everything.

Gibbs returned after a few hours. He confirmed it was arson.

‘We will catch him (y/n).

‘Doesn’t seem to matter any more,’ you replied. Today had wiped you out, left you feeling hopeless.

Gibbs walked up to you and gently brushed your cheek with the back of his finger before wrapping his arms around you.

‘You’ve still got your memories, he hasn’t taken them,’ he said softly. ‘Things will get better.’

As much as you wanted to believe him, you couldn’t imagine anything being better.


	4. Love Thy Neighbour

You woke up on a strange sofa. Removing the blanket that was covering you, it takes a few minutes to orientate yourself before the wave of remembrance hits you. You’d started to shut down after the events of the day. You remembered being spoken to by a doctor, Ducky you think they’d called him. You don’t remember much of the conversation. Gibbs had taken you to his car and taken you to his house. The sofa was probably the first place you sat down. Your head was full of noise. Where was Gibbs? Standing up you see a sheet of paper on the floor saying “In the basement” with an arrow pointing towards the stairs. You tentatively walk down the steps and follow the arrow, Gibbs was there sanding down a chair. He notices you and half smiles.

‘How are ya doing (y/n)? he asks.

You shrug. Gibbs grabs you a stool and gestures for you to sit down. He takes a seat close by.

‘How long have I been asleep?’ you ask.

‘About an hour. You curled up on the sofa and fell asleep as soon as we got back.’

You nod

‘I’ve made you up a bed. I don’t expect you to sleep on the sofa tonight. Ziva has dropped round some clothes she bought you. ‘

You manage a smile. You knew everyone was being kind but expressing any kind of emotion felt difficult. You felt a numbness that was probably supressing a lot of pain.

You sit and watch Gibbs continue to craft the chair in silence. When he was done, he ushered you back upstairs and made you some food which you ate a bit of. Once Gibbs had cleaned up, he showed you to your room. He put the bag of clothes and toiletries down on the chair in the corner of the room.

‘Bathroom’s through there. I’ll be downstairs if you need me,’ Gibbs said, closing the door gently behind him.

You had no problem falling asleep. The problem was that every time you seemed to close your eyes vivid dreams would start to play. At first, they were unpleasant but easy to shrug off but as the night wore on, they became more and more harrowing until you wake up screaming forcing Gibbs to burst into your room with his gun raised. You were too caught up in the horror of the nightmare you had just experienced to notice. You cried openly, upset with the places you subconscious was taking you. Gibbs sat on the bed next to you, gently rubbing your back as your chest spasmed. You were too tired to stay awake but too terrified to sleep. Eventually, Gibbs put his arm around your shoulders and you rest your head on his.

You wake up some hours later curled up in the bed. Gibbs is asleep fully dressed, on the bed next to you. Still feeling exhausted, you close your eyes again and when you awake, Gibbs is awake and reading. He sees you coming to.

‘You ok?’ he asks concerned, his eyes searching you for signs that you’re not.

You nod. You had no idea what time it was but you guessed it was mid-morning and that Gibbs should have been at work. Then, once you woke up a little more, all the memories of yesterday flooded back and you felt the cortisol race around your arteries. At least you had slept and you felt able to hold it together more than you could yesterday.

‘I need to go to work. There will be an agent posted right outside the house thought and if you need them inside then just shout them in.’ There’s food in the fridge.’ Gibbs said gently.

You nodded and gave Gibbs half a smile. There was no way you’d feel up to socialising with anyone today, so you were grateful for the space to work things out.

********************

Coffee in hand, Gibbs walks into the office where Tony and Ziva are stood looking at the plasma while Tim puts up various pieces of evidence.

‘Is (y/n) ok?’ Ziva enquires on seeing her boss.

‘For now,’ he replies curtly. ‘Where are we at? Did we track the uncle down?’

‘Yeah he wasn’t even aware (y/n)’s dad had died and he was working on all the evenings the car was sighted. We do, however, have a new suspect, (y/n)’s next door neighbour.’ DiNozzo offers.

The team go through the evidence and show Gibbs how it all links back to the neighbour.

‘DiNozzo, David, bring him in….’

The fact that the (y/n)’s neighbour Sean Hesson ran the minute she saw Ziva and Tony heading towards him did nothing to convince Gibbs that his pleas of innocence were genuine as he walked into the Interrogation Room. The evidence the agents had collected at the scene was also pretty damming, keys to the car used to harass (y/n), the fountain pen used in the notes and the clothing they found smelling of petrol (the accelerant used to set light to (y’n)’s house) and smoke. It took less than ten minutes for Hesson to confess. He’d become obsessed with (y/n) and wanted her to ask him for help. When she didn’t, he felt the need to up the ante and take things further to try and make her need him. The evidence was all there ready to be handed over to Metro with the suspect. Attempted blackmail and arson meant it was unlikely this guy would be seeing his own house anytime soon. As the Metro officers took him away, Gibbs could only think about (y/n) and everything she had lost.

********************************

It had been a struggle to get up and get yourself showered and dressed but you pushed yourself through. You weren’t hungry but knew you needed to eat so you used what little stuff was in Gibbs kitchen (did this man ever eat?) to prepare a meal for you both. When he arrived back you could see he was surprised to see you looking so collected when you’d been quite unreachable this morning. You both sat down and ate dinner. You could tell he had something he needed to tell you, but you decided not to pursue what it was until he wanted to. He did that once you had finished your meal and he’d cleaned up. It was a huge shock to learn that Sean had been responsible for everything. You thought you’d be able to hold it together but the realisation that this man had not only taken your home but had also damaged any chance of you had of ever trusting anyone again made you weep. Gibbs wrapped his arms around you and you rest your head on his chest. Listening to his steady heartbeat helped you regulate your breathing and bring your emotions under control. Right now, this was the only place you felt safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you've enjoyed this. I've left it open to sequel should the mood take me.  
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
